York Township Officials To Get Pay Hikes

ELMHURST, IL — Starting this year, some York Township elected positions will see pay hikes, most of which appear to be roughly in line with the consumer price index.

Through a public records request, Elmhurst Patch obtained the information on salaries this week. A township supervisor candidate, however, suggests officials were "slow-walking" the release of the numbers.

The supervisor, who has received $70,000 annually the last four years, will get an increase to $75,590. Inflation has gone up about that much in the last four years.

The assessor, who gets $116,500 a year, will see that amount rise to $122,750 this year, then to $129,900 the following three years. If the township had followed the rate of inflation, the amount would rise to $125,000 this year.

The highway commissioner, who gets $104,000 annually, will see that go up to $114,389 this year. That is about $2,000 over an inflationary increase.

The clerk and trustees will see the same pay — $24,000 and $7,500 respectively. Township trustees are allowed to get paid in Illinois, while school and park board members are not.

In a post on Patch last week, Melissa Gonzalez, the Democratic candidate for supervisor, said her slate of candidates, York for Progress, has struggled to get information on the township salaries. She said the slate sought the numbers through a public records request, but got a list of ordinances related to the issue without the text. She said a follow-up request was pushed back another five days.

"Is the elected clerk slow-walking this legal request so that NO ONE can see it until after the election?" she wrote.

She said the Addison Township board approved a total of $40,000 in raises for its elected officials.

"I wonder if York Township also gave themselves a nice (and secret) raise in the middle of COVID winter," she said.

Patch received the salary numbers a few days after requesting them.

The township's clerk, Dan Kordik, said the township abided by the Freedom of Information Act.

"(Gonzalez) never asked for the two most recent salary ordinances. If she had, she would have received them just like you did," he said in an email to Patch.

Gonzalez later released the email exchange between Democratic trustee candidate Tomas Novickas and Kordik. In early March, Novickas requested a copy of York Township's ordinances, but did not specifically seek the ordinances on salaries or a timeframe. A few days later, the clerk gave him a list of ordinances.

Requesting all of an entity's ordinances would likely be seen as too broad under state law. And Gonzalez confirmed Novickas ultimately received a response indicating the initial request was, in fact, too broad.

"In my opinion, 'slow-walking' in this instance means drawing this request out as long as possible in order to stall until after the election," Gonzalez said in an email to Patch. "I realize that the Clerk follows the letter of the law — but since this information ought to be readily available to any citizen without having to jump through these kinds of hoops, it's not 'transparent' by any means."

Meeting minutes indicate the York Township board approved the recent salary-setting ordinance in open session. Under state law, salaries for the next four years must be enacted six months before Tuesday's election.

In Tuesday's election, Gonzalez and other Democrats are making a play at taking control of the Republican-dominated township government.

Townships are often overshadowed by bigger governmental entities. Over the years, some legislators in Springfield have proposed the elimination of township government, but have failed in the face of organized opposition.

In Illinois, townships have three mandated responsibilities — maintaining roads, assessing the value of properties for tax purposes and providing general assistance to the poor in limited circumstances.

Townships are allowed to branch out into other services, and many suburban ones do. York, for instance, operates a senior center.

York Township includes most of Elmhurst. Its offices are in Lombard.